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“Okay, let’s say this manipulation is worth it. What about us?”
“Maybe your own letter’s waiting, Ry,” I say.
“Maybe I don’t want one.”
But I know that’s a lie. Ryder loves beautiful things. Rare things. Coveted things. And he’d always talked about the Sinclair jewels as a kid and teen, before sex and money really got in the way.
“Maybe you won’t get a chance,” Kingston says, and he ignores the dark look from Ryder. “Maybe it’s just you. This sounds complicated. If they’re there, we can contest—”
“I’ll be having my lawyer look things over, but Jenson said it’s airtight.” And I have to sign a contract. I have four weeks once I do that to pull this off, to convince Jenson it is all legit, and then I can have my piece of the dynasty. Something that I can’t buy and don’t already have.
My brothers look at me and I straighten up. “I’m going to do it.”
“You are?” Ryder frowns, glancing about.
“I said so, didn’t I? It seems simple. Find a bride and convince the world I’m in love. Or Jenson, in this case. I’ll put in some calls.” I shoot a look at Magnus. “And don’t judge. I’m not an idiot. It’s not going to be real and no one will get hurt. A contract in a contract. This one very private, and with a woman who needs the money.”
Kingston shakes his head. “That’s stupid.”
“It’s trouble,” says Ryder, “and I know trouble. Very well.”
“Not if I do it right. I already put in some calls. A favor for a favor, and I already got a bite.”
“Hud, you’re never reckless, so why now?”
I cut a glare at Magnus. “I’m not. I’m streamlining. I’ve an old college buddy…they’re a respected family, old money, and the kind of old money where it’s name over cash and since the coffers are low, he said his cousin works for XO Temps, and is in need of more than her job pays.” I pause, choosing my words carefully because I didn’t exactly tell Bixby or anyone else what this was about, other than a demanding job that’s going to pay well, as it’s last minute.
I could have told him everything, and he’d only have heard money and a way to not spend his own. “Thinks she’d be willing to do it and…she’s coming here tonight. I can give her a job and have it work that way.”
“A cliché office romance?” Ryder asks. “It suits you.”
“Thanks. How kind, asshole.”
“I try.”
Magnus starts laughing and shakes his head. “Better you than me, man. You haven’t met her and you’re gonna do this?”
“Yes,” I say. “As long as she fits my criteria of honesty, and the ability to keep a secret, then it’s good. And someone rich needing money means she’s going to keep the damn secret.” I start really warming to the idea. “She’s not going to want more, and she’ll know how to move in my world. And if she’s already working, she’s got integrity. As long as she has skill, I can hire her and that sets the stage.”
“You know what happens on stages?” Ryder pipes up, setting both feet on the floor and standing. “Tragedies. Operas, farces. All of those have the kind of plots where things go very, very wrong.”
“In your world, maybe, but not in mine. I’m not planning to fuck her, just marry her, pay her and send her on her way when we succeed. That’s all.”
Ryder sighs. “Boring. That’s boring.”
“That,” I shoot back, “is streamline and success.”
“Can I sleep with her?”
“No,” I snap. “That’s a complication, Ryder. And maybe she won’t want to sleep with you.”
He starts laughing like I’ve told the biggest joke in the world. “They all want to sleep with me.”
My brother’s a pretty boy and feckless. If he wasn’t so damn smart and ruthless under all that charm, I’d be royally pissed off.
“There’s always a first time,” mutters Magnus.
“Or,” chimes in Kingston, who doesn’t seem quite so bored, “a third or a fourth.”
